Do we like to vote more than we vote to like?

It was the Fall of 2004 when political philosopher and thinker P. Diddy told me to “Vote or Die.” Here’s the truth: I didn’t vote and I didn’t die. In fact, a lot of nonvoters miraculously survived the election. In fact, nearly the same percentage survived in 1992 when there were no electoral bounties issued.

Election	Voting Age Population	Turnout	Percentage
1992	189,529,000	104,423,923	55.10%
2004	215,694,000	122,267,553	56.69%

  

If the threat of death doesn’t even get over 40% the population to vote, what will? In truth, probably nothing. If we go by the numbers, we will likely never see a dramatic change in the nonvoter percentage. I wonder too, if we will or are already seeing a leveling off of the social “voter.” A recent study by Visibli reveals that even the most engaging Facebook pages receive only about 23% of likes per post.  Currently, Justin Bieber has about 44 million likes of Facebook out of a total voting population of…well, the world.  

While new media is an exciting and powerful tool, it’s important to keep perspective and context for online initiatives and campaigns.